West Ham vs QPR Preview: Rust, Resilience, and a Friday Night Derby

 

The international break has felt like a long three weeks. So long, in fact, that I may have to read the names on the backs of our shirts on Friday just to remind myself who everyone is. 🤣

Truth be told, this London derby has me slightly nervous. On paper, our squad should be nicely rested, while the coaching staff have had an absolute eternity to work on fixing our rather porous defence. The problem is that returning after three LONG weeks away can leave a few cobwebs hanging around the place, which can lead to a sluggish start.

And, if we're being entirely honest, sluggish starts are something we've already been doing far too much of this season.

QPR arrive with a stubborn, compact setup and a three-match drawing streak under Julien Stéphan, so breaking them down is unlikely to be a stroll in the park. I still believe our superior quality should eventually tell, but I suspect this could be a nervous, fingernail-chewing first half as we attempt to blow away the rust.

Hopefully, our talisman Tomas Soucek will be fully fit and back in the side to provide his usual combination of physical presence, midfield graft and the faint possibility of him appearing in the opposition penalty area at exactly the right moment.

Sadly, I won't be at the ground to witness it. Instead, I shall be exiled up North in Newcastle for the weekend, where I'll be doing properly "northern" things down by the Tyne.

Whatever that means.

COYI ⚒️